


Nisha & Tim's Excellent Babysitting Adventure: Final Match Edition (Electric Boogaloo)

by ichikun



Category: Borderlands
Genre: (she fakes her death), (will), ADVENTURE!, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama!, Eventual Smut, F/M, More characters to come, Rating May Change, angel is miraculously alive and running away from home, awkward family group, like moxxi (eyes emoji), romance!, substandard babysitting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-11-18
Packaged: 2018-05-02 05:09:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5235362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ichikun/pseuds/ichikun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You? You’ve got true grit, kid. I like that—I like you. I wanna help you however I can.”<br/>Nisha wasn’t sure why she said the last part. She was fairly certain she’d never stick her neck out for anyone—especially when there was no reward on the table—but something about the way Angel gripped her earlier struck something in the Sheriff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nisha & Tim's Excellent Babysitting Adventure: Final Match Edition (Electric Boogaloo)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no, steve, i will not add "& Knuckles" to the title; it's already too long

The Sheriff flexed her fingers around the grip of her pistol, listening intently to the clumsy footfalls of her deputy as he tugged the two trespassers along to her office. The sun had already been hanging low in the sky when he had spotted the two hiding along the tracks through his binoculars, and was now well into setting as he brought them in for questioning.

It didn’t sound like the prisoners were struggling, which gave the Sheriff pause. When the deputy opened the door and pushed them in, she could see why—the taller of the two was all but quivering in his boots, and she could hear faint sobs from underneath the sack over his head. The other was a pale and sickly-thin girl with an arm of swirling blue tattoos who looked like she could barely keep herself standing, much less resist arrest.

The Sheriff relaxed her grip on her pistol, standing and rounding her desk to get a closer look at the pair.

“These two were smugglin’ our Eridium, ma’am. Caught ‘em red-handed.” The deputy straightened his back and smiled proudly as he extended a sack full of Eridium to her. Instead of responding, the Sheriff used the tip of her gun to tilt the chin of the shaking man up. He swallowed audibly, his sobs becoming more desperate.

“Do you wanna wait ‘til tomorrow to execute them? Bit dark for a public show now.”

Just then, the girl collapsed on the floor. The captured man jumped in surprise, his hands struggling against his restraints. He tried to speak around the gag in his mouth, but all that came out was muffled panic.

“Get out,” the Sheriff ordered, gesturing with her pistol for the deputy to leave. “Stay out.”

He obliged, leaving her alone to pull the sack off the girl’s head, remove the cloth gag from her mouth, and get her some water from the pitcher on her side table.

Angel’s face was gaunt, her lips chapped and blood-red. When she opened her eyes, Nisha couldn’t help but be struck by how blue they were against her sallow skin. She held the girl’s head up and tilted the glass to her lips, relieved when Angel seemed to be able to hold herself up on her own as she drank.

“You were...” Angel rasped. “You were…the closest person…”

Nisha told her to relax, assuring her she would call Jack and tell him to come pick her up, but Angel panicked and gripped Nisha’s arm surprisingly tight, considering how dehydrated she was.

Nisha gave her some time to rehydrate herself before turning to the beanpole on her right. “If that’s Angel,” she began, walking over to him, “then I can’t wait to see who’s behind curtain number two.”

When Nisha yanked off the burlap sack, she couldn’t help her bark of laughter. Timothy looked at her pleadingly, gesturing to his gag with his bound hands, and the sight was enough to evoke a new wave of laughter from the Sheriff.

“Oh—oh my God. Oh my God, hang on, oh man…Oh man!” When she was finally composed enough to talk, she pulled a blade from her boot and used it to saw through the cloth of Timothy’s gag followed by the rope tied around his wrists.

Nisha poured him a glass of water as well, before going back to sit at her desk.

“You know, I gotta say, when Winger said he saw two rats holed up by the tracks, the last two people I was expecting him to drag up here were my boyfriend’s daughter and his doppelganger.”

Timothy smiled sheepishly, refilling Angel’s glass of water.

“So, what brings you two here to Lynchwood? Not exactly a scenic, Pandoran-sightseeing spot.” When neither of them said anything—simply exchanged wary looks—Nisha pressed on. “What did you mean when you said I was the ‘closest person’?”

Angel worried her bottom lip between her teeth, biting at the dead skin. Nisha didn’t say anything, and the room was filled with a heavy silence.

“I ran away from home,” Angel finally said, ducking her head. “None of those words sound right—that place wasn’t my home, and running away sounds so simple, but—“ Her words caught on a sob, and Nisha moved to offer a comforting hand. She wouldn’t describe herself as particularly empathetic, or in possession of anything resembling a mother’s touch—a concept entirely foreign to the Sheriff—but she felt like she couldn’t ignore the girl’s pain. Although Nisha had never met Angel in person before, she found herself almost worrying for her.

Angel rubbed her damp cheek as she continued, blinking at her tears. “It was the only opportunity I had. I couldn’t stay in that place anymore—with no one but him—so I came up with a plan.” Angel took a deep breath. “He’s been pumping me full of Eridium. If I go too long without it, I’ll die. The vault hunters—I had them destroy my Eridium injectors, and one of them—Lilith—she phaseblasted us all out of the bunker. Timothy found me—he brought me Eridium—we ran. We ran out of the Highlands—to here—we came to you.”

Nisha was taken aback. Angel had come to her for sanctuary? And she had convinced Timothy Lawrence of all people to help her do it? The Sheriff couldn’t think of anything to say—she just sat there, hand hovering over Angel’s shoulder and mouth gaping open.

“We were afraid to use the fast travel systems,” Timothy said. “We thought Hyperion’s network might be able to track us.”

At that, Nisha started. “You walked all the way here from _Opportunity_?!”

“Did our fair share of sneaking, too,” Timothy said with a humorless laugh.

“And Jack?”

“Thinks I’m dead.”

Angel took a small sip of water, looking dangerously close to crying again. Nisha sincerely hoped that wouldn’t happen—she was not well equipped to handle teenage angst.

Luckily for Nisha, Angel didn’t cry. She finished a few more cups of water while the three sat in silence, Nisha letting all the information sink in. Jack’s daughter was so full of despair, she faked her own death and ran across a desert, braving bandits and monsters just to find somewhere safe to stay. The Sheriff wasn’t a fool—even she wouldn’t call Lynchwood safe, or anything close to it. She had to respect the kid’s guts.

“Just—Just promise me you won’t tell him,” Angel said quietly. “Please. Please…”

How could Nisha argue with a face like that?

“Alright, kid. You got me. My lips are sealed.”

Angel smiled weakly, but Timothy seemed genuinely surprised. “Wait, really? You won’t tell him?”

“How could I?” Nisha retorted angrily. “She came in here half dead, dragging your sorry ass with her! Angel worked hard to get here, I’m not gonna let It go to waste.”

Timothy seemed unconvinced. Nisha sighed, then turned back to Angel, placing a firm hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Listen, Angel. I’m going to tell you something. Your dad and I? We have fun, alright? He’s pretty charming, and occasionally he gives me small towns full of bandits to kill as gifts, and that’s really sweet. But he’s shit in bed—“

“Oh my God, he’s my _dad_ \--” Angel sputtered.

“ _Nisha_!”

“Don’t interrupt, this is important. He’s shit in bed, he spends all his time hanging around on Helios, taunting those vault hunters, and all he ever talks about anymore is opening some vault! Like, _damn_ , I love that boy, but he’s really been drivin’ me up a fuckin’ wall lately—and not in the good way.

 “But you? You’ve got true grit, kid. I like that—I like _you_. I wanna help you however I can.”

Nisha wasn’t sure why she said the last part. She was fairly certain she’d never stick her neck out for anyone—especially when there was no reward on the table—but something about the way Angel gripped her earlier struck something in the Sheriff.

Angel smiled again, wider and more reassured.

She fell asleep on one of Nisha’s chairs not long after, curled around the burlap sack full of Eridium the two had dragged across the desert. Timothy was pretty exhausted himself, but didn’t allow himself to nod off.

“What’s wrong with you?” Nisha asked, sitting down on the wood floor next to him. Tim brought his legs up to give her space.

“Whaddaya mean?” He yawned.

The Sheriff knocked him over the head. Tim brought his hands up, wincing at the blow. “Was that necessary?”

“If you’re tired, sleep.”

“I will—I will. I just. I wanna keep an eye on her, that’s all.”

“What, you don’t trust me or something?” Nisha snorted, feigning offense. “And after all we’ve been through, Timmy.” Tim didn’t say anything, and Nisha scratched her head.

“You know, I don’t get it.”

“Get what?” Tim asked.

“Any of it.” Nisha paused, rubbing her temple. “Okay, I get why she ran away, I guess.  I wouldn’t wanna spend my prime years locked up in some high tech daycare, either. I just don’t—why _you_?”

Tim didn’t seem surprised by the question—he responded with a chuckle, ducking his head between his knees and carding his fingers through his hair. “I—yeah, I get it. When Angel asked me, I was surprised, too. I’m—I’m still not sure why she picked me either, but, you know I-I-I-…”

Nisha waited, quirking a brow.

“I-I-I’m not much of a hero. But, you know. I think I could b—I want to be. I want to be a hero. My own hero.”

At that, Nisha seemed taken aback.

“Not like Jack. B-Better than Jack. I _want_ to be better than Jack. F-for her.” Tim pointed his chin in Angel’s direction.

The Sheriff grimaced. “What, you mean like, adopting her or something like that?” she asked, and Tim flushed.

“N-n-no no no no no! N-Nothing like that!” Tim pulled his bangs down over his face, nervous. “No, I just. I just want to be there for her, or something. I don’t know. It’s stupid, right? Idon’tevenknowwhatI’msaying…”

Nisha thought for a minute, then snorted, bringing a hand down on Tim’s head. “Nah, I don’t think it’s stupid. Walking across the desert, without water or rations, toting around a bag full of Eridium, just to get to Lynchwood? _That’s_ stupid. But doin’ it for her?” She shrugged. “I don’t know. Doesn’t seem as stupid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading and I hope you look forward to coming chapters! <3


End file.
